Nigerian road crash kills 28 police, 5 others

LAGOS, June 14 (Reuters) Twenty eight policemen and five others were killed in an overnight road accident in Nigeria, the police spokesman said today.

The men from the elite Mobile Police corps were on their way to an assignment in oil-producing Bayelsa state in the anarchic Niger Delta when their bus crashed into a truck on a remote road in central Benue state, said spokesman Haz Iwendi.

''Their vehicle had a head-on collision with an open-back truck. It happened at 4 am (0830 hrs IST) yesterday. Twenty eight of them died and five occupants of the truck were killed,'' Iwendi said.

Nigerian roads are among the deadliest in the world because of potholes, poor maintenance of vehicles and dangerous driving.

Most Nigerian motorists have never taken driving lessons as a licence can easily be obtained for a small cash payment.

Reuters SL VV1609